Alice and Hatter
by rottenwriter83
Summary: Just a bit more detail to the ending we all love. It's not perfect and I will probably try again but this is what I've got right now. I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Hatter's fingers trembled as his pulled at a loose thread on the hem of his shirt. He could still feel the warmth of her body. The jacket held onto to her warmth like he was clinging to the jacket. The rest of him was quickly draining of all warmth. He could feel his muscles convulsing as he watched Alice climb the steps to the Mirror. Everything in him was telling him to call out to her and pull her to him and never let go. But he also knew that Alice didn't belong here, with him. His heart crumbled as he watch the operator push her through.

"You could go too, you know?" Hatter started slightly to find Jack at his elbow.

"But I thought -" Hatter was confused.

"She didn't want me."

"Isn't it against the rules? I mean, the White Rabbits are the only ones allowed to go through, aren't they?"

Jack shrugged, "I'm the king, I'm willing to make an exception." Jack reached into the pocket of his lapel and pulled out a wallet and a key. "Here, take this. Her world can be pretty inhospitable if nobody knows who you are. The key goes to my old place there, the address is in the wallet. It's not much but I won't be needing it anytime soon."

Hatter smiled widely, "Thanks, Jack."

Hatter didn't even hesitate, he crossed the floor in only a few strides and dove head-first through the mirror after Alice.

When Hatter reached the other side of the mirror his dive suddenly became a bad decision. His head came in contact with something hard and cold. The impact dazed him and he sat on the cold concrete rubbing the bump that had begun to form. "Alice?" He called out as his vision began to clear. She couldn't have gotten too far ahead of him, he thought when she didn't answer him. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the alley where he'd landed he made out the crumpled form just a few feet away. Springing to his knees, the pain in his head forgotten, he felt through her clothes for warmth and a heartbeat,  
"Alice!" he pleaded through his fear. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a strong heartbeat. Try as he might he couldn't rouse her. "You must have hit your head harder than I did." He said aloud to noone in particular. He didn't know where he was or how to find help but he knew he had to get her off that cold slab. Carefully, he eased Alice into his arms. Though it wasn't quite as he had been imagining it, he was grateful she was safely with him. He nestled her securely against his chest, letting her head rest against his shoulder. He crept slowly out of the alleyway and into a main thoroughfare. There were vehicles on wheels rolling up and down the black street before him, they weren't like the boats and hovercrafts he was used to. His people walked or rode on horses on the ground, although he knew a few people who procured two wheeled contraptions from the Oyster world, b'cycled they called them. But they were more novelties than modes of transport. Hatter looked around for help and was suddenly flooded with a feeling of inadequacy. He didn't belong here! He didn't know who to trust or how to talk to people or where they went to get help! How could he manage? He was about to walk out into the street and stop one of those rolling vehicles with his body when he heard a voice call out,

"Alice!" Hatter turned in the direction of the voice, there was a woman running down the side of the street toward him, making frantic movements and peering down every side street she passed. "Alice!" she let loose again.

Stepping into the path of the frantic woman Hatter cleared his throat loudly, "Excuse me, is this who you -"

"Alice!" the woman said again, only this time in recognition. "What happened?!" she asked accusingly. Hatter had to suppress an involuntary grin since it wasn't possible for the woman to know how loaded a question she was asking.  
"Er - I think she bumped her head."

"Where was she?"

"Found her back there." Hatter gestured to the alley behind him. The woman was fluttering her hands over Alice's knotted head as if she didn't know if it were safe to touch her or not.  
"Should we take her somewhere?"

"Yes!" The woman said as if her mind couldn't get past the next moment. "Come on," She dragged on his arm, leading him down the street, "My car is over here." She led him to one of the wheeled vehicles, this one was red and close to the ground. Using a key she pulled from her pocket, the woman unlocked the "car" and opened one of the back doors. "You can put her in there, be careful!" As Hatter placed Alice in the back seat he tried to prop her up but her limp body wouldn't hold the position. The woman seemed unsure of what to do. "Do you mind if I come along?" Hatter asked hesitantly, sure of only that he didn't want to let Alice out of his sight. When the woman looked doubtful he added, "I'd like to make sure she's alright." That seemed to reassure her so she made a jerky nod. Hatter climbed in next to Alice and laid her head on his lap. The woman climbed in behind another large wheel, like the steering wheel on his boat, and strapped a restraining device across her chest. Also like his boat she used a key to start the car's engine and steered it into the rest of the traffic on the street.

Unsure of the appropriate etiquette in this kind of situation, if there is such a thing, Hatter found the silence very uncomfortable. He felt the need to say something, anything, "You're her mother, aren't you?" To woman glanced back at him suspiciously, "How did you know that?" Hatter smiled, he wasn't worried, her fear and concern were dead giveaways even if he hadn't recognized her by Alice's description. "Let's just call it and educated guess."

"Hmmph." was her response. Then she asked, "What were you doing in that alley?"

Hatter didn't know how to answer, he certainly couldn't tell her about a giant mirror that served as a portal between worlds. Oysters didn't know about any of that, that's how the Hearts could get away with it all for all those years.

"Working." He said lamely, hoping she'd let it go.

"Oh, are you part of the construction crew they have working back there?"

"Mmmm." Hatter muttered noncommittally. He brushed absentmindedly at a few strands of hair that had fallen over Alice's face.

"Is she ok?" Alice's mother asked nervously, "We're almost there."

"I think she's fine, just a bump on the head."

"Here we are!" She pulled her car up to a large building with lots of lights on and great big red letters spelling out EMERGENCY. She stopped the car and opened her door. Hatter could hear her calling out to someone, "Help me please, my daughter hit her head! She won't wake up!" Then began a chaotic few minutes, Hatter was able to help Alice from the car but then medical professionals whisked her away on a rolling bed, speeding her into the big building through sliding doors under the red letters. Hatter hurried to follow her but just passed the sliding doors he was stopped by stern faces and shaking heads. "Wait there." one of the stern faces pointed to a cluster of uncomfortable looking chairs. Hatter sat in one, hesitantly. He didn't like not knowing where Alice was or what people could be doing to her poor defenseless sleeping body. He knew this place was probably filled with good doctors or whatever but all he could think about was his recent encounter with the Tweedles. The thought made him shudder. Alice's mom seemed to be relieved to be here, that would have to be enough to reassure him for the present. At least until he could think of a way to sneak past the stern faces and see Alice for himself. He watched as Alice's mom, What did Alice say her name was? He watched as she filled out some papers at a desk nodding her head periodically to the questions the man behind it was asking her. After she was done she too was directed to sit in the cluster of chairs. Hatter was grateful when she sat down next to him.

"How long will we have to wait, do you think?" Hatter asked anxiously.

"Oh," Alice's mother said as she considered things for the first time, "You don't have to wait at all! I'm sure you have other places to be, and you've certainly done quite enough. Have I said thank you for finding her? I'm so sorry, I just -" Hatter placed one hand on her shoulder so that she'd look him in the eye, and then said, "I'd like to wait a while with you, if you don't mind."

Her relief was tangible. "Thank you," she said again.

"It's David, by the way, David Hatter." Hatter smiled a little, not even Alice knew that.

"David," she repeated, then, "I'm Carol." They shook hands unnecessarily and settled in to wait in companionable silence.

It wasn't long before a woman in a white coat came from the doors where Alice had been taken. She spoke to the man at the desk who pointed toward Carol and Hatter. They rose to meet the white coated woman as she crossed the distance between them.

"Is Alice okay?" Carol and Hatter spoke almost at the same time.

"Physically it looks like Alice is going to be fine, she had a few scrapes and bruises and by what looks like very recent strain on her muscles I'd surmise she's exhausted. But she did take a rather severe knock on the head. After trauma like that sometimes the body shuts down to allow itself to heal."

"But she's going to be ok?" Carol needed to hear the words, so did Hatter.

"We will keep her here until she wakes up, then we'll know for sure."

"Can I see her?" Again Carol was asking the question on the tip of Hatter's tongue.

"Yes, but one at a time. And only family." This last bit was said to Hatter, how did she know? He wondered. Carol squeezed his arm apologetically before following the white coat back past the desk and through the doors.

Hatter couldn't sit still, he began to pace the area of chairs. Back and forth he paraded past them, unsure of what to do. If they were back in his world nothing would have kept him from marching past those stern faces and demanding to be told where they were keeping Alice. And if they stubbornly refused to tell him, then he would have just found her himself. Isn't that what he had done when the Tweedles had her locked up in her own mind? So what was stopping him now? At least Carol was with her, she wouldn't let anything happen to her, right? At least he knew he'd find out soon how she was, but if he did something to make an oyster mad or disobey one of their rules - well then they might lock him up and then how would he get to Alice? She didn't even know he was there. No, waiting was best. But waiting was hard, The pacing was getting old and it seemed to make the other oysters waiting there even more anxious. So he tried sitting again. There were screens hoisted onto walls nearby. Various people talked to each other on different subjects. He assumed that some of it was meant to entertain and others were meant to be informative but it was hard to determine what was fact and what was fiction. For example there seemed to be one male oyster pushing around large storm clouds around a screen with a map on it which he found to be laughable but the people around him seemed to be taking that oyster very seriously. While another screen displayed poor individual trying to organize items on a conveyor belt, and not very successfully and those watching her were laughing hysterically. Hatter had time to watch several of these segments before Carol walked back through the doors.

Carol seemed a little distracted, but far less frazzled. She was rifling through her handbag as she walked so, again, Hatter had to step into her path to get her to notice him.

"How is she?"

"You're still here?! Oh well she just looks like she's sleeping but it's still scary with the monitors and the IV they have her hooked up to?"

"IV?"

"Oh it's just fluids to keep her hydrated."

"Oh." That sounded ok, he guessed.

"David, I was just going to go home to get some things, can I drop you somewhere?"

"Well," Hatter wasn't sure what to do, "It doesn't seem right to leave her…" he said wistfully glancing back through the forbidden doors. Carol gave his arm another squeeze, "You are so sweet to worry about someone you've never met."

"I guess I feel kinda responsible for her, because i found her."

"They aren't going to let you back there, since you're not family. But they said as long as she wakes up soon she should be home in a few days. You could come by the house and see for yourself that she's ok, how does that sound?"

Hatter hated leaving Alice but he supposed that if he insisted on staying her mother would be very suspicious and it might even make him look a little creepy. "I guess that's ok then." He answered her.

"Great! So where can I take you?"

"Hmm?" Hatter said absentmindedly, "Oh, um" for the first time Hatter pulled out the wallet and key Jack had given him. Flipping open the tri-fold leather envelope he found a small white card. "Do you know where 34 Winterford Street is?"

"Sure, that isn't far from our house! That's not your place?"

"It belongs to a friend, he's out of town."

"I see." Although it sounded like Carol didn't see at all.

Jack's place really shouldn't have surprised Hatter, knowing Jack, but it still caught him unawares. Jack may have been pretending to be a normal oyster but his apartment said differently. Hatter suspected that Jack never brought Alice back there since her suspicious nature would have found its appearance hard to justify. His royal upbringing affected his choice in carpet and furnishings, even the bathroom was posh! After the initial shock wore off Hatter didn't take the time to explore, he sank into the bed's luxurious satin sheets and was sound asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Alice awoke to the sound of subtle but repetitive beeps and the unfamiliar hum of machinery. "Mom?" she muttered groggily as she recognized the woman snoozing near her.  
"Alice!" Carol sat up immediately, rubbing Alice's outstretched hand to reassure herself her daughter was ok. Alice was immediately hit with a wave of sadness she had so far kept at bay. The images of her father dying in her arms would no longer be denied. Someday she would tell her mother the whole story, but for now, all that should would allow herself were the words, "Daddy's gone," and the tears that went along with them.

"I know." Carol answered unsure of what Alice meant but knowing now was neither the time nor the place for such explanations.

"How long was I there?" Alice needed to know for she had lost track of time while Hatter and she were wondering the underbelly of Wonderland.  
"Almost an hour." Was Carol's impossible answer.  
"An hour?" How could that be? Alice couldn't' wrap her head around it. Carol went on to say something about how lucky they were and something else about a construction worker who found her, but Alice wasn't listening. A sickening feeling had overtaken her body. A fear was creeping through her, what if none of it was real? What if she had dreamt the whole thing? And how could she find out the truth? Would the mirror still be there? Could she find her way back? What about Hatter?! Did she imagine him? Was she crazy? How could she miss someone who was never real?

The doctors came in to examine Alice, the asked her a thousand questions. She lied and said the last thing she remembered was following Jack out the door. Her mother asked if she still had the ring? It took Alice a moments to remember why she'd followed Jack in the first place. When they discovered the ring was gone there was talk about a possible robbery but Alice didn't know what to think. She let them all talk around her for a while until her mother suggested they let her rest.

Two days later Alice was given the okay to go home. As she promised, Carol called the number David had given her. She told him he should come by that afternoon, if he had the time, although she couldn't shake the feeling that he had been waiting for her to call. He seemed overly relieved for a stranger but his concern was so sincere she couldn't entertain any truly suspicious thoughts toward him. He promised to be there by four.

Alice and Carol arrived home shortly after two. Carol was concerned by her daughter's rather subdued demeanor since she awakened but she thought she'd give her a few days to digest before pushing the issue. Her worst fear was that the blow to the head had done physical damage but she held out hope it was just emotional trauma that needed time to heal.

Alice walked through the house slowly, it felt ages since she'd been there. Her "adventure" in wonderland still stood out clear and strong in her memory, though she kept expecting it to fade as dreams did in the morning. She could still smell the earthy scent of Hatter as she rode behind him on the back of Guinevere the horse. She could hear Charlie's high pitched voice yelling his strange insults when they'd thwarted his trap to catch the Jabberwock. But only an hour? How could it be real? As she came to her room, it felt too small and not really her own anymore. Could a person change so much in just an hour? She took note of the map on the wall where she'd kept track of where her father wasn't. Real or not, she no longer felt the need to find him. Slowly she began to pull the pins from the cork board.

As she was rolling up the map and placing the last pieces of evidence of her years of searching her mother came into the room.

"What's this?" she asked directly.

"I don't need to look for Dad anymore," she answered, "It's time to move on." and she pushed the rolled map under her bed. Before Carol could ask the questions that were burning in her mind, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, I almost forgot. That'll be the construction worker who found you, very sweet." And she marched off to answer the door.

A moment later Carol called down the hallway, "Alice, come meet David." Alice moved slowly toward the obligatory introduction and small talk. Of course she was grateful for the rescue and her mother had said he had been very attentive, but Alice was in no mood for company.

As Alice reached the end of the hallway she looked up to see the only person in the whole world she wanted to see. "Hatter!" she exclaimed and immediately began to run. Hatter's arms were open and waiting for her as she leapt into them. Their embrace was better than any medicine or quick fix tea. "Finally." David muttered near her ear, for it felt like this embrace, this hug was such a long time coming, something he'd been waiting for perhaps for his whole life.  
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." Alice said with genuine relief. And Hatter was so glad to hear it. Sitting alone in Jack's apartment he had too much time to consider the idea that Alice might not be happy to see him just pop up in her world. He'd begun to think she may not be happy to see him at all. Her declaration made him brave. He pulled back from their embrace just enough to do the other thing he'd been thinking about doing. He ducked his head quickly before he could change his mind. He kissed her. Hatter kissed Alice right there in her living room, in front of her poor confused mother and the second biggest mirror he'd ever seen. He'd wanted to kiss her since the moment Ratty lead her through his tea shop. And with each moment he spent with her, he wanted to kiss her more. At first he couldn't because she was an oyster and relationships with oysters were strictly forbidden. Then he couldn't because he had no hope of competing with Jack Heart - a prince! But here he was finally kissing Alice, and she kissed him back! He paused for a moment to soak it in. He placed his forehead against hers and whispered, "I missed you." then caught her lips in another kiss. He'd never spoken truer words. Nothing felt more real to him than his feelings for Alice. And, whether they were in Wonderland or in the Oyster world, he never wanted to be further from her than he was in this moment.

Alice couldn't believe it, she wasn't crazy after all! Wonderland was real! It was all real! Hatter was real. That's all that really mattered. She needed to touch him and feel his arms around her and know he was there with her. She hadn't felt truly herself in days, not since she woke up in the hospital and she knew this was why. When his lips met hers for the first time she had to stop herself from jumping up against him and wrapping her legs around his waist. Her feelings for Hatter had begun as a slow burn, growing slowly til they felt like hot smoldering coals in the pit of her chest. She was so focused on the things they needed to do she ignored the smoldering feeling for as long as she could. But now, there was no imminent threat from dictator-like queens. Maybe they could -

"Ahem." Her mother was nearly choking on her confusion, "Would someone mind filling me in?"

Alice and Hatter came apart reluctantly with an embarrassed chuckle, but Hatter took her hand and held tight.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ahem." Her mother was nearly choking on her confusion, "Would someone mind filling me in?"

Alice and Hatter came apart reluctantly with an embarrassed chuckle, but Hatter took her hand and held tight.

"I'm sorry Mom, you deserve an explanation. Although I'm not sure you're going to believe this."

"Try me." Carol sat heavily at the dining room table and folded her arms in front of her chest. Alice and Hatter sat in chairs opposite her and began their tale.

They told Carol about Jack and who he really was and why he came to find Alice. They told her about the queen and how horrible she was to her subjects and even to her own son. They told her about finding Charlie and riding flamingos and running from the Jabberwock. They told her about the Hospital of Broken Dreams and the people there who couldn't be cured. When they came to the part about The Carpenter, Alice's father, Alice watched her mother carefully knowing the truth about him would be a terrible shock. Throughout the story Carol sat silently while a myriad of emotions played across her face. When they had finished they sat and waited while Carol processed what she'd heard. Hatter rubbed his thumb over the back of Alice's hand absently.  
"This is why you've been so quiet since you woke up? Isn't it?"

"When you told me only an hour had passed I thought I'd gone crazy! I thought I'd made the whole thing up in my head. Actually I still don't understand that part," She turned her body toward Hatter, "Can you explain?"

"Oh that, well the mirror can put you in any time it's just a matter of programming it. I imagine Jack sent you back now so your mother wouldn't be worried."

"You're kidding!? That thing travels in time too?'

Hatter shrugged, "Don't you lot have time travel?"

Carol and Alice shook their heads in dismay.

"Hmm." Hatter commented disinterestedly. "So hang on, you thought you were crazy til you saw me standing here?"

"Yes," Alice said in a small voice, "I thought I'd never see you again." Hatter pulled her out of her own chair and into his lap, he nuzzled into her hair and whispered, "I may be a bit mad but I'm just as real as you are." Alice made an "mmm" sound as she pulled his arms tighter around her and leaned back against his chest.

Carol watched them unsure what to make of their story.

"So what you're telling me is that your father forgot about us and became some sort of drug dealer in another world?"

Alice sighed, that made it sound even worse, but still she nodded, cause it was true.

Hatter felt the need to speak up, "But you know, in the end, he did the right thing, he saved Alice. And the forgetting thing, I don't think that was his fault, I'm pretty sure he was brainwashed. All the other oysters on our world are." Carol reached over and patted Hatters hand, "Thank you for that." she stood up from the table and stretched, "I need to - I think I'm going to bed." She kissed the top of Alice's head and said, "Well, wherever you were, I'm glad you're home now." Alice and Hatter watched Carol walk down the hallway toward her room. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Hatter asked, genuinely concerned. Alice shrugged, "Eventually. She never obsessed about it like I did but I know she always wondered what happened to Daddy too. At least I have the closure of having been there. She just has to take our word for it."

Alice and Hatter sat there until Alice heard Hatter's stomach emit a fierce sounding growl. Hatter tried to ignore it but Alice asked anyway, "When is the last time you ate? Tell me it wasn't Charlies barbecued borogove!"

"Ha! No. I found a pizza in the cold box in Jack's apartment. The directions were pretty easy to follow," Alice stood up, "Let's go find some real food. I'm hungry and I could definitely use the fresh air."

"Ok, do they have places that specialize in borogove here? That stuff was good."

"Uh I don't think so," Alice called from the hallway, "But I'm sure we can find something." Hatter followed her down the hallway, he leaned against her door frame and watched as she peered under her bed and than crossed the room to rummage through the boxes on her dresser. "What are you looking for?"

"My wallet. I can't remember the last time I saw it."

"Jack gave me this, would it help?" Hatter pulled the leather wallet out of his back pocket. Alice joined him in the doorway and took the wallet from his hands. "Why did Jack give you this?"

Hatter shrugged, "It came with the key to his place here. He said he wouldn't be needing it and I guess he figured I might need a place to crash. The address was inside the wallet." Alice opened up the wallet and pulled out four or five platinum credit cards, "So are these, How much you wanna bet they're still good?"

"What are they?" Hatter asked as he fingered the tiny plastic fan she was flourishing in his face.

"You don't have credit cards? Come to think of it, what do they use in Wonderland for currency?" "Tea mostly. Services, foods, goods - that kind of thing. In recent years most people would do anything for a sip of tea. Of course, if you gave it away you couldn't drink it yourself. That's why food and grown things were so rare. People started trading tea for other teas and things like farming or sewing or everything, were abandoned. I suppose Jack is going to have his work cut out for him to get all that started back up again. But we haven't used a metal or paper currency in probably 20 or 30 years." Alice pondered this for a moments, a very specific question occurred to her but she wasn't ready to ask yet. Taking Hatter's hand again she pulled him toward the door, "Let's find out if Jack's plastic still works." She wrote a quick note for her mom, definitely didn't want to worry her again. And then pushed Hatter through the front door.

"Where are we going?" Hatter asked as they marched down the narrow concrete walkway that lined the black street Secretly he was disappointed not to be riding in the rolling vehicle, he could definitely get used to driving one of those.

"I'm going to show you what REAL pizza tastes like."

"Real pizza? What was that stuff I ate at Jacks?"

"Oh that stuff is perfectly fine when you don't have anything else or you have limited time. But it certainly can't compare to Luigi's."

"Who's Luigi?"

"It's just the name of my favorite pizza place."

"Does that mean you've never used it?" Alice asked cautiously, realizing that she actually didn't know how old Hatter was.

Hatter grinned an impish grin, "Why? How old do I look?" Alice punched him playfully in the stomach, "Hey, I've been to Wonderland buddy, I know that appearances can be very deceiving. Didn't you say to Ratty that "Oysters don't live THAT long" How long do YOU live? You could be a hundred years old for all I know!" It was a scary thought really.  
"Actually, I am."

"What?!" Alice whirled on him.

"I was a hundred and twenty three last Lunadeela."

"Lunadee - what? Wait, 123? How is that possible?"

"Well the teas aren't the only crazy drugs we have in Wonderland."


End file.
